MR. ROGERS AND CAPTAIN KANGAROO, CHECK THIS OUT!

Quite a few of us grew up with Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Rodgers, as you or your children probably did. I knew nothing of their backgrounds, only that their shows were both entertaining, educational, and as kids, we looked forward to them with great anticipation.

Captain Kangaroo turned 76 recently, which is odd, because he's never looked a day under 76. (DOB: 6/27/27)

Lee Marvin was buried alongside three ranking generals- this relates as you will see.

Lee Marvin was a genuine hero. He won the Navy Cross at Iwo Jima. There is only one higher Naval award... the Medal Of Honor.

Dialog from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: His guest was Lee Marvin. Johnny said, "Lee, I'll bet a lot of people are unaware that you were a Marine in the initial landing at Iwo Jima... and that during the course of that action you earned the Navy Cross and were severely wounded."

"Yeah, yeah... I got shot square in the (backend) and they gave me the Cross for securing a hot spot about halfway up Suribachi...bad thing about getting shot up on a mountain is guys gettin' shot hauling you down. But Johnny, at Iwo I served under the bravest man I ever knew...We both got the Cross the same day, but what he did for his Cross made mine look cheap in comparison. The dumb...actually stood up on Red beach and directed his troops to move forward and get the hell off the beach. That Sergeant and I have been lifelong friends.
" Johnny, I'm not lying... Sergeant Keeshan was the bravest man I ever knew..... Bob Keeshan...You and the world know him as Captain Kangaroo."

On another note, there was this wimpy little man (who just passed away) on PBS, gentle and quiet. Mr. Rogers is another of those you would least suspect of being anything but what he now portrays to our youth.

But Mr. Rogers was a U.S. Navy Seal, combat proven in Vietnam
with over twenty-five confirmed kills to his name. He wore a long sleeve sweater to cover the many tattoo's on his forearm and biceps. A master in small arms and hand-to-hand combat, able
to disarm or kill in a heartbeat. He hid that away and won our hearts with his quiet wit and charm. He was also an ordained Presbyterian minister.

America's real heroes don't flaunt what they did, they quietly go about their day to day lives, doing what they do best. They earned our respect and the freedoms that we all enjoy.

Look around and see if you can find one of those heroes in your midst. Often, they are the ones you'd least suspect, but would most like to have on your side if anything ever happened.

Re: MR. ROGERS AND CAPTAIN KANGAROO, CHECK THIS OUT!

As I have matured, I have come to believe that the most heroic and the most unselfish acts are those committed in anonymity. Some people do brash or flashy things to gain thier 15 minutes of fame, but I find that kind of self-serving act to be of relatively little value.

%chuck%

P.S. I read those stories for the first time about a year ago, but it is nice to be reminded of them.

Re: MR. ROGERS AND CAPTAIN KANGAROO, CHECK THIS OUT!

I wanted to find out more about these stories so I did some research and this is what I found:

We can't say for sure whether actor Lee Marvin ever related something like the story described above to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show (Marvin was a guest on the show seven times during Carson's tenure as host), but the details of the anecdote are undeniably false.

Lee Marvin did enlist in the U.S. Marines, saw action as Private First Class in the Pacific during World War II, and was wounded (in the buttocks) by fire which severed his sciatic nerve. However, this injury occurred during the battle for Saipan in June 1944, not the battle for Iwo Jima, which took place several months later, in February 1945. (Marvin also did receive a Purple Heart, and he is indeed buried at Arlington National Cemetery.)

Bob Keeshan, later famous as television's "Captain Kangaroo," also enlisted in the U.S. Marines, but too late to see any action during World War II. Keeshan was born on 27 June 1927 and enlisted two weeks before his 18th birthday, months too late to have taken part in the fighting at Iwo Jima. A 1997 interview with Keeshan noted that he "later enlisted in the U.S. Marines but saw no combat" because, as Keeshan said, he signed up "just before we dropped the atom bomb."

As for Fred Rogers serving as a Seal during the Vietnam War, with a large number of confirmed kills to his credit:

This same rumor has often been applied to boyish country singer-songwriter John Denver (among others), and it's just as false when told of Fred Rogers. Not only did Fred Rogers never serve in the military, there are no gaps in his career when he could conceivably have served in the military -- he went straight into college after high school, he moved directly into TV work after graduating college, and his breaks from television work were devoted to attending the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963) and the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development. Moreover, Fred Rogers was born in 1928 and was therefore far too old for an active combat position in the Vietnam War.

Re: MR. ROGERS AND CAPTAIN KANGAROO, CHECK THIS OUT!

hi john..glad somebody useded there smarts and corrected this.i was going to research this shortley..my uncle was a Navy Seal,and he told me mr.r.was never a Seal..my uncle served 21yrs as a Navy Seal,in three diferent war zones in vietnam,,as for the others,well were i,m also retired from the army 25yrs,US Special Forces.anybody can find the facts from heroes on in the US Military History.com all branches..so great research..thanks for correcting stupid peoplewho write such trash....Peace Bro....jimb47

Re: MR. ROGERS AND CAPTAIN KANGAROO, CHECK THIS OUT!

Re: MR. ROGERS AND CAPTAIN KANGAROO, CHECK THIS OUT!

People will put virtually anything on the internet and other people will believe it and pass it on. It's amazing what goes around. I think it's all a conspiracy to desensitize you to actual facts, so that when the real truth comes out, you won't believe it. (Pass that on)